Ever since
Mad Mad World and its hit "Life Is a Highway,"
Tom Cochrane has been drifting, trying to find a song as effortlessly catchy as that masterpiece. Unfortunately, he doesn't find it on Songs of the Circling Spirit, which is nearly the same album as
Mad Mad World and
Ragged Ass Road.
Cochrane is a competent songwriter and he has a tight, professional band which helps make his mainstream heartland rock sound convincing, but in the end, he doesn't come up with enough hooks or memorable stories to make Songs of the Circling Spirit appealing to anyone but the devoted. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine